Mainstreaming Opioid Maintenance Treatment into General Medicine: Effects on Addi

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Disparities in access to buprenophine maintenance for opioid dependence by ethnicity and socioeconomic status in the U.S. [1] raise the question of whether unrecognized stigma and marginalization within systems of care will intensify inequities in treatment, as addiction is clinically treated as a chronic medical illness in the priate sector, and integrated into office-based practices [2]. This project investigates the influence of mainstreaming buprenophine maintenance treatment for opioid dependence into general medicine clinics on the perceived stigma and social networks of patients. Focusing on public clinics that serve low income and ethnic minority patients, but have been slow to adopt buprenophine treatment, it also examines institutional and professional influences on buprenophine adoption by providers. The project uses mixed social science research methods, and will involve observational case studies of clinics, semi-structured interviews, longitudinal measures of perceived stigma, and social network analysis. These will be undertaken in five clinics that vary by setting (general medicine versus substance abuse specialty), patient demographics (ethnicity and socioeconomic status), and the speed with which clinic staff adopt buprenophine maintenance. Disparities in access to buprenophine in the U.S. are predicted by studies of technology dissemination of treatment for a wide range of health conditions, which demonstrate that improved technologies often widen treatment gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged patient groups[3], and in the case of mental health and addiction, affect stigma differently among disadvantaged groups[4,5,6]. This project seeks to illuminate institutional and socioeconomic determinants of treatments and outcomes, with a focus on the relationship of stigma and social resources to clinical setting (general medicine versus substance abuse clinic) and patient demographics. This project thereby addresses a core NIH goal of reducing disparities in access to health care.